What are the implications of the issues brought up in these articles?
The Valenzuela and Wood articles both were centered on children in school and issues that take place there. Starting with the Valenzuela article, I don't know if what she talked about was as much about racism as what I had pointed out to me by a Mexican-American. My ESL Tech when I worked at a Junior High was really upset with our students one day and she pointed out to me that they really put someone down if they were appearing "to smart." This shocked me. She indicated the same thing had occurred when she was in Junior High and High school where her peers didn't want anybody around them to be smarter than they were and would really get on them about it. I also recalled something very similar to what Ms. Valenzuela talked about occurring between two white girls when I was in Junior High and I know that my ex- talked about the same thing going on at her school when she was the same age. It is unfortunate that we have to deal with this behavior in our students, but I think it is a way children attempt to point out that they are different in a "good" unusual way so others will notice them.
The Wood article addresses an issue Kevin pointed out. No amount of schooling can undue the tremendous influence of home life, good or bad. This girl probably had other relationships in school which were destructive to her and there is a good possibility that a teacher pointed that out. However, children don't like being lead around by the nose and want to experience certain things for themselves because "their situation is unique" and not like what we adults are talking about.
When I was reading the Gatto article, the first thoughts were that this guy is a conspiracy nut. The influences he talked about did take place, but there were other people on the playing field of education at that time who had vastly different ideas about education. His facts on literacy can be partially explained away by the fact that not everybody was surveyed, e.g. Native Americans weren't "colored", and not "white" either, not to mention that they were not even considered U.S. citizens. Just before WWII, Native Americans started to be allowed to do things they had previously been forbidden to do, such as join the military in greater numbers. Looking at the changing attitudes of the American public, I think the polls from the 1950s on are probably more accurate in what the literacy rates in the U.S. are. However, it is still sad that are literacy rates, as well as graduation rates, are not higher.
